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BEER BASICS.COM
Vol.05 No.12 --- 22 April 2004
A newsletter of special interest to brewers, the brewing community, chefs, restaurateurs, and members of the beverage alcohol business media.
If you wish to be dropped from this list, please respond to peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com. Include the word "remove" in the Subject: line.
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Publisher: Peter LaFrance
Editor: Claire Zuckerman
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Greetings,
The first breath of summer heat wafted through the New York City area last weekend, and again today. I hope you are all as ready for summer as I am.
This weekend I will be involved with TAP New York up at Hunter Mountain. A report will appear in next week’s newsletter.
I wrote to Lisa Morrison, the staff reporter who is on the other end of all the links announcing this years Beer Cup awards, to congratulate her on the well written story. I was amazed to see her piece in so many places.
I would like to offer special thanks to Claire Zuckerman who pulled me out of the weeds by putting this issue together from very rough material.
If you will all hoist a glass of beer at 1200 local time this Sunday (25 April 2004) in her honor it would be more than appropriate.
Cheers!
Peter LaFrance
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FROM THE WIRES
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BEER CUP RESULTS
All by Lisa Morrison
WESH – Orlando, FL (television NBC)
http://www.wesh.com/food/3019985/detail.html
32 WLKY - The Louisville Channel.com
http://www.thelouisvillechannel.com/food/3019985/detail.html
5 WLWY – Cincinnati, OH
http://www.channelcincinnati.com/food/3019985/detail.html
6- WRTV – Indianapolis, IN
http://www.theindychannel.com/food/3019985/detail.html
4-WNBC – New York, NY
http://www.nbc4.tv/food/3019985/detail.html
12- WISN – Milwaukee, WI
http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/food/3019985/detail.html
Local Rochester, NY: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle noted High Falls, Bru and Wagner Valley Award Winners
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/news/04191D3VB5I_news.shtml
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MORE NEWS
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Congratulations to the World Beer Cup Champions!
SMALL BREWING COMPANY
(1-15,000 barrels or 1-17,600 liters per year)
Oggi's Pizza and Brewing Company of San Clemente, California
Brewmaster: Tom Nickel
MID-SIZE BREWING COMPANY
(15,001 - 2,000,000 barrels or17,601 - 2,346,000 liters per year)
Firestone Walker Brewing Company of Paso Robles, California
Brewmaster: Matthew Brynildson
LARGE BREWING COMPANY
(Greater than 2,000,001 barrels or greater than 2,346,001 liters per year)
Miller Brewing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Brewmaster: David Ryder
SMALL BREWPUB
(1 - 1,200 barrels or 1 - 1,408 liters per year)
Laurelwood Pub & Brewery of Portland Oregon
Brewmaster: Christian Ettinger
LARGE BREWPUB
(Greater than 1,201 barrels or greater than 1,409 liters per year)
Russian River Brewing Company of Santa Rosa, California
Brewmaster: Vinnie Cilurzo
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Independent Craft Beer Wholesalers Meet at Brewers Conference
Forty-two representatives of America’s independent distributors of craft beer met here for the first time for two days of talks about the details of their emerging business.
Unlike many US beer distributors who depend largely on sales of mass market brands, these distributors focus on beers made by small independently owned breweries—members of the steadily growing craft brewing segment that accounts for approximately three percent of the overall beer industry. In addition to their focus on craft beer brands, many of the distributors were founded by owners of craft breweries to distribute their own brands.
The meeting was chaired by Greg Koch, co-founder and CEO of Stone Brewing Co. Like several of the companies represented at the meeting, Stone Brewing Co. not only brews and distributes their own beer but also distributes beers made by other craft brewers from around the country. Most of the distributors also carry specialty imported beers as well.
Conducted in a roundtable format, the meeting followed an agenda of topics including sales staff, suppliers, retailers, logistics and warehousing.
“It was a tremendous opportunity for sharing of ideas and insights, said Koch. “The specialty beer wholesalers in this country are an extremely diverse and innovative group. This conference showed that the face of specialty beer wholesaling is evolving in ways that are beneficial for the craft brewing industry.”
As the craft brewing industry has matured and the structure of the beer distribution industry has changed in recent years, distribution has become an increasingly important issue for small brewers. As the industry group which represents the greatest number of small brewers, the Association of Brewers has become increasingly involved in the distribution issue. In addition to hosting this ground breaking meeting, AOB representatives will attend the National Association of Beer Wholesalers Legislative Conference in Washington DC in late April.
Contact: Ray Daniels, Director of Craft Beer Marketing,
Association of Brewers
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Guinness Plans to Close London Brewery
Shawn Pogatchnik of the Associated Press reports from Dublin, Ireland, that Guinness announced plans Thursday to close its brewery in England, its oldest outside this country.
Diageo PLC, the British drinks company that owns Dublin-based Guinness, confirmed that about 90 jobs will be lost when the Park Royal brewery in Brent, northwest London, closes in mid-2005. The brewery opened in 1936 and produces about 4 million kegs annually for the British market.
Guinness officials presented plans to modernize and boost production at their St. James's Gate brewery in west Dublin, one of the Irish capital's top tourist attractions. That brewery produces over 8 million kegs annually for domestic consumption and export.
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MUNICH OFFICIALS UP IN ARMS OVER WORLD CUP BEER
The Associated Press also reports that, “In the city of the Oktoberfest, officials are up in arms over the most famous local product - beer, which they say won't be available at the city stadium during the 2006 soccer World Cup.”
See: Daily Beverage News, April 19, 2004
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FOOD NETWORK FEATURES ALASKAN BREWING CO.
Juneau, Alaska: The Food Network’s “Food Finds” series will showcase Alaskan Brewing Company’s award-winning beer on April 20, 21 and May 1.
The Food Network Host Sandra Pinckney broadcasts to 80 million households the merits of local and regional artisan food products like Alaskan Brewing Company beers.
Initial research into the demand that might be generated shows that many businesses took more than 1,400 orders daily following the show’s debut. The show’s producers have encouraged all the featured businesses to be prepared for an influx of orders, website visits and phone calls. Preparations vary but generally include adding phone lines, increasing production, upgrading website capabilities and bringing on extra personnel.
Even more important than the potential sales related to the exposure is the opportunity to represent the craft beer industry and businesses in Alaska that offered support through the years. “Alaskan fans have known for years the challenges that we have to overcome to do business here, but now a whole different sector of the country will know about the world class products we produce,” says Alaskan Brewing’s co-founder, Marcy Larson. “It’s an honor to be included and to help showcase quality in the state of Alaska and in the craft beer industry.”
Also highlighted in the Alaska episode are Birch Boy Alaskan Syrups (Haines, Alaska), Horst’s Seafood (Juneau, Alaska), and Theobroma Chocolates (Sitka, Alaska).
“Due to the various laws, we don’t direct ship but we are prepared to help people find their closest source for Alaskan beers,” says Larson. “We even have options for the thirsty folks outside our distribution area by referring them to liquidsolutions.biz in Oregon. Liquid Solutions is a web veteran of Food Finds, having been featured in 2003.
Food Finds’ Alaska episode will air on the Food Network to cable subscribers. Updated TV listings can be found at www.foodnetwork.com .
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Letters to the Publisher
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From: toddlintown@comcast.net
Subject: The Real Augsburger Story
Peter,
I'm afraid that Stephan Danckers provided the incorrect origin of the Augsburger brand to Beer Basics.
The original "Augie" was the product of a different era, brewed by the Monarch Brewery, once located on Chicago’s near Southwest Side. In 1958, former bootlegger Joe Fusco took control of the brewery, adding it to his resume along with his ownership of the Bohemian Brewery in Joliet and the Pacific Brewing Company in California. During his younger years in Prohibition, Fusco had learned the ins and outs of beer distribution from his boss, Al Capone. Fusco’s sales technique was a simple but effective one: a pipe bomb through the front window of neighborhood saloons whose owners tried to order beer from a rival bootlegger. Needless to say, beer sales for Capone and Fusco soared with such imaginative marketing techniques.
One year after Fusco took over Monarch, the brewery launched Augsburger beer and attempted to give the brew an air of respectability by labeling it as being brewed by "The House of Augsburg." When the mobbed-up brewery closed in 1967, the label went to the Wisconsin-based Potosi Brewing Company and was brewed there until 1972 when the Joseph Huber Brewery picked it up. It was at the Monroe, Wisconsin, brewery where the beer was handled as a "craft-brewed" beer, long before the phrase first rolled off the tongue of today’s beer geeks. Huber took the old formula, tossed it aside and brewed a richer tasting beer with a generous infusion of "noble" hops.
By the time I came back to the States in West Germany in 1978, Huber’s Augsburger beer was on its way to becoming one of the best selling super-premium beers in the Chicagoland area. I’d like to think that my consumption of the green-bottled beer personally helped give it sales momentum, but it was probably those silly thirty-second radio spots with Huber’s master brewer, Hans Kessler, that caught the collective ears and wallets of local beer drinkers. For years, the heavily accented German brewer would tongue-in-cheek his way through a series of ads pitching his beer, sounding a bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger on a happy drunk.
But in 1987, brewery owner Fred Huber wanted out of the beer business and sold the regional brewery to two former Pabst executives. It was a move that Huber quickly regretted, especially when the new owners sold the Augsburger label to Stroh and then started talking about closing the small brewery.
Feeling betrayed, Huber bought back the brewery in 1989 but was unable to get the Augsburger label back from Stroh. At the Michigan brewery, the beer slowly lost its character and beer drinkers noticed. By the time Stroh sold its operation to Pabst in 1999 and divided its portfolio of various regional brands between Pabst and Miller in the buyout, the Augsburger label was as good as dead. When Pabst stopped production of the once great tasting beer in 2000 to concentrate on its core brands, it looked like the Augie label would be buried like so many other great regional brands before it.
Stevens Point Brewery, another regional brewery in Wisconsin, has stepped into the history of the Augsburger label to become its white knight by securing a licensing agreement with Pabst to brew the beer. Pabst will still own the label and receive a percentage of sales, but "for all intents and purposes," says Stevens Point operating partner Joe Martino, "Augsburger will become a Point brand." Led by Martino and Milwaukee real estate developer Jim Weichmann, an investor group purchased the brewery last year.
Hans Kessler isn’t brewing Augsburger this time around. The care of the beer is now in the very capable hands of Point master brewer John Zappa.
"We modified the formula to use 100 percent barley malt, hops, water and yeast," Zappa said. "The result is more of a smooth, flavorful, well balanced lager." In the same spirit as the old Huber product, I hope.
Bob Skilnik
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From: NJRockets@aol.com
Subject: Re: BeerBasics.com Question of the Week
[I am going out on a limb and admit that I have a 16 oz. can of Budweiser, a presentation bottle of Ninkassa brew, and a very old bottle of Bass Ale in my refrigerator. Since we received only a few confessions last week, I want all of you to go to your refrigerater and tell me, honestly, what beer you have in there.]
Hello Peter -
Really like the new format of your newsletter!
As for your question, a look in my refrigerator shows one bottle each of Iron City Beer, Smuttynose Portsmouth Lager, Magic Hat Blind Faith, and Barley Creek Superhop. Finally, on the door resides a lone pint can of Beamish Stout.
Good thing you didn't ask about what's in my basement.
Yours in Hops,
Vince Capano
North American Guild of Beer Writers
webmaster@beernexus.com
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From: England@iowaabd.com
Subject: RE: BeerBasics.com Professional Question of the Week
Peter,
Let’s see. I have a bottle of Anchor Porter, a few bottles of Millstreamís Schild Brau, Elmwoodís Dry Stout, Grantís Perfect Porter, Boulevardís Dry Stout, some very old Guinness and Bass Ale, and a selection of my homebrew (Rye, Porter and Oatmeal Stout). As you may have guessed, I tend to savor the dark side. Oh yea, I almost forgot about the obligatory Bud light (my lawnmower beer).
Thanks,
Mike England
MVBN – Iowa
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From: jackcurtin@comcast.net
Subject: In my 'Frig...
A fascinating question. Now that I've gone and looked, I
can't decide if the results makes me kinda cool or really
weird:
Heavyweight Baltus
Heavyweight Cinderbock (2)
Sierra Nevada Big Foot Ale
Weyerbacher Old Heathen Imperial Stout (2)
Weyerbacher Raspberry Imperial Stout
Weyerbacher Black Hole Ale
Monk's Cafe Flemish Red Ale (3)
Echte Kriek (3)
Mort Subite (2)
Lindeman's Framboise
and a bottle of Samichlaus 1997!
I also have Heavyweight Biere D'Art on draft out on the
porch, if that counts.
Jack Curtin, Journalist
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From: halleron@yahoo.com
You caught me on a good day--I have 4 bottles of
Pilsner Urquell and a bottle of Castlemaine XXXX
Bitter that was brought over from Australia. For
a while I had Coors Light in my fridge that someone
brought over for a get-together. I think the drain in my kitchen sink drank those...
Chris Halleron, Journalist
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From: speedlaw@verizon.net
Subject: Re: What's in the refrig
Spaten Oktoberfest
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Paulaner Salvator
I had some Bud Light for about 5 months till someone visited.
Casey Rascob, Lawyer
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From: whatsontap@sbcglobal.net
Subject: Re: what's in your fridge.
Hi Peter,
Just saw your item about what's in your fridge. Love these
questions.
Let's see . . . No Bud, although my wife did give me a can of Bud Light once when she was mad at me. I fed it to the dogs, but they ignored it.)
OK, there are four bottles of year-old Amstel Light.
There's a 14-year-old bottle of Anchor's Earthquake beer - the one with the upside down label. When the Loma Prieta struck everyone ran for home and forgot the beer in the brew kettle. When they returned, they finished brewing and fermenting it anyway to show they were determined to conduct business as usual despite the chaos in the Bay Area.
I have:
A 1987 bottle of Thomas Hardy.
Four bottles of this year's Bigfoot (It's mellower)
Two bottles of Sam Smith's Organic Ale
Two bottles of North Coast Red Seal Ale (one of my all-time favorite
session beers)
A 1997 Anchor Our Special Ale
A 2000 bottle of the same.\]also 2001,2002,2003
A bottle of Chimay Red
A bottle of Hansen's Old Gueze
A half-full bottle of Red Star Lager (from Berlin before the wall fell
circa 1990)
A Brooklyn Brewing Monster (2000)
A Millennium 2000 brew from Lagunitas
An Anchor Liberty Ale
Lagunitas B2K
Sam Adams Ttriple Bock
Palais Bieretif Frambois
Duinen Dubbel
Lindemans Frambois
cheers.
William Brand, Journalist
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Promotions, Events, and Tastings
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The Fifth International “The Bar Show”
This will be the fifth year that the folks at Bartender Magazine have held “The Bar Show” at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. The event will be held on Sunday and Monday, June 20 and 21 from noon to 6 p.m.
For information contact: info@rdpgroup.com
The show brings together thousands of owners, managers, bartenders and their staffs from bars, nightclubs, taverns and restaurants from throughout the country and world to meet with the finest suppliers of products and services to the bar and restaurant industry. Last year’s attendance was over 8,000 professionals.
Metro New York has the heaviest concentration of bars , clubs and restaurants in the world. Bar management will be presented with the latest spirits, beers and wine being offered as well as promotional items, insurance, financial and bar products by some of the leaders in the industry.
This year, attendees will have the opportunity to taste wines from around the world at “The Wine Cellar,” featuring Ron Kapon – Vice President of Tasters Guild International and Director of Tasters Guild New York. Mr. Kapon will officiate a wine tasting in “The Wine Cellar” right on The Bar Show floor.
Admission is $30 at the door for industry professionals.
Contact: Sharmayne Wesler, Vice President
800-243-9774
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CALENDAR 2004
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APRIL
23/24 - 2004 - Border Beer Bust, GA
Contact: Tres Watson
Phone: 706-823-3435
Email: treswatson@hotmail.com
24 - 21st Annual San Francisco International Beer Festival, CA
Contact: Erin Bedley Giordano
Phone: 415-820-3905
Fax: 415-421-3313
Email: bedleygiordano@sbcglobal.net
MAY
2 - 7th Annual Great Petaluma Chili Cook-Off, Salsa & Beer Tasting, CA
Contact: Laura Sunday
Phone: 707-763-8920
Fax: 707-763-8929
Email: info@cinnabartheater.org
8 - "Of Ale and History" Beer Tasting Festival, VA
Contact: Ed Presley
Phone: 540-869-2028
Fax: 540-869-9638
Email: epresley@bellegrove.org
8 - Maryland Brewer's Spring Beer Fest, MA
Contact: Alicia Adams
Phone: 410-769-8223
Fax: 410-769-8112
Email: aadams@mooreamarketing.com
22 - Rawley's 16th Annual ExtravaCANza!, CA
Contact: Rawley
Phone: 408-294-1834
Email: ceskydup@pacbell.net
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CHECK THESE OUT:
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The Food Reference Newsletter
Food History, Trivia, Quotes, Humor, Poetry, Recipes
James T. Ehler, Editor
james@foodreference.com
http://www.foodreference.com
Lew Bryson's Home Page
Beer maven Lew Bryson has a site that deserves a hit or two.
Of special interest is the Pennsylvania Breweries Update Page, for those who have his book Pennsylvania Breweries. Lew Bryson's website also offers frequent updates to his new book, NY Breweries.
www.LewBryson.com
SALUT! (The Webb site.)
This site includes a recipe of the month (all beer-based recipes), a substitution chart so that those not lucky enough to have access to Quebec’s great beers can use an alternative beer, a brief history of beer in Quebec, and a Question & Answer section with Raymond Beauchemin.
Nat Decants Free Newsletter
Wine tips, sips and articles from award-winning wine writer Natalie MacLean. There are no ads and all e-mail addresses are kept confidential.
Contact: natdecants@nataliemaclean.com or http://www.nataliemaclean.com/
Culinary Cultures LLC
For chefs, cooks and foodservice professionals.
Chef Ron L. Askew, Executive Director
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DIRECT ACCESS
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1) BridgePort Brewing Co. www.bridgeportbrewing.com
2) Pete's Brewing Co. www.peteswicked.com
3) Spoetzl Brewery Inc.,Shiner, TX: www.shiner.com
4) Gambrinus: www.gambrinus.com
5) Rogue Ales www.rogue.com